Other Western ski resorts have also been hit by the recession. Southwestern Montana's Moonlight Basin, near Big Sky, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this month. In addition, the owners of the swanky members-only Yellowstone Club, also near Big Sky, liquidated opulent furniture in November.

But Moonlight Basin and the Yellowstone Club will still fire up their lifts this month.

Tennis star Andre Agassi pledged to build a luxury hotel. President George W. Bush visited in 2005, fishing on nearby Lake Cascade with then-Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, the man who would become Bush's Interior secretary.

Then came 2008 and the real-estate crash. Agassi double-faulted on his hotel plans and workers laid down their hammers as Tamarack's owners ran into trouble with their bankers. A court-appointed receiver running operations shuttered the resort in March 2009, as Credit Suisse refused to cover mounting losses. Even Bank of America is fighting in court to repossess the ski lifts.

In a sign of just how far it's fallen, Tamarack has become a target for bargain hunters. One chalet that sold for $900,000 in 2005 recently changed hands for just $200,000.

Matthew Castrigno, whose Idaho Resort Rentals in nearby Donnelly manages about 30 Tamarack properties for owners, said his business has been brisk as rental prices plunged by half, to $200 nightly for a three-bedroom chalet.

"You walk into them and you can tell a great amount of love and care went into the homes," Castrigno said. "You know it's someone's personal statement. To see that dream completely lost, it's sad."